noisy parents and thin walls
by adorablebadass
Summary: "What have I done?" the brunette asks. Henry doesn't say anything. "Henry?" He looks to Emma as an answer. "Emma? I've...are you upset that we're together?" He shakes his head. "What about Emma then?" Henry sighs, trying to obtain courage and patience but losing them both rapidly. "You...you did Emma."


**A/N:** There's definitely no real plot to this one-shot other than the prompt: Henry has to ask his mothers to keep it down. So I'm not very good at writing fluff or humor which (shrugs) I guess that's why no one ever sends me prompts for either. I do like one-shot prompts. I can write those a lot faster and often than I can anything else. I'm not used to publishing them however, so I usually send them to people privately but I got talked into publishing this. Maybe I'll receive some encouragement to do it again. Who knows. Otherwise, enjoy!

* * *

Henry descends the stairs carefully, deliberately trying not to alert his parents that he is awake. He walks in a zombie-like state, his movements constricted due to it being two in the morning and only having gone to sleep two hours ago. That's his fault entirely. After his mothers said goodnight to him, he kind of stayed awake to read comics only to pass out with his flashlight still in his mouth and the comicbook still in his hands.

Now, he pushes the door to his mother's study open and curls up on the couch in there; basking in the simmering embers stroking the room with heat still. He didn't even need his blanket, which he'd forgotten upstairs anyway and he would rather freeze to death than to venture back up those stairs right now.

Sleep consumes him as soon as his head hits the pillow he's technically not supposed to be using. One thing he does notice, however, is that the room and especially the couch smells an awful lot like his adoptive mother. The scent of apples lingering in his nose and taking him back to the days it'd been just them in the house. He dreams about that again.

* * *

Regina's tucking in the silky salmon-colored split-neck blouse into her skirt when she walks into her study. She doesn't notice Henry at first, mostly because her mind's on budget reports and having to visit Thomlin's Hardware store to assess the damages of the fire and determine whether or not the town can afford to help him rebuild.

The mere thought of budget reports breed a headache between her eyes and she pinches the bridge of her nose, only to remember the discussion (more like argument) she'd had with Emma last night. The Sheriff had returned home, stumbling and fumbling around their bedroom as she undressed, and hissing something about having to walk away the way from the South entrance of the forest to home.

Regina had rolled over, mostly to get on with the impending argument Emma was trying to start despite it being almost two in the morning and the Mayor being very much asleep.

"Why did you have to walk?" She'd asked, her voice crisply laced with sleep.

"Because the fucking squad car broke down." Emma threw her boot onto the floor, apparently not giving a damn whether or not the noise would wake their son. "Do you have any idea how fucking cold it is out there, Regina?" she'd asked as she ripped her jacket from her shoulders. The colder months are the only time Regina can ever convince Emma to lock those atrocious leather jackets away.

Not in the mood for another work-related argument (honestly this is exactly why Regina had her reservations about starting a relationship with Emma, precisely because she was the Mayor and Emma was the Sheriff and their disagreements at work were bound to interfere with their relationship but noooo Emma had insisted they would be okay), Regina rolled back over to face the balcony doors. "I've reminded you to take the squad car to Michael's for annual check-ups, Emma."

"Well that's kind of hard to do when all of our money goes to the useless deputies _you _picked out." Emma baited her.

"We'll discuss this in the morning." Regina responded, her tone dripping with impatience and desire to go back to sleep. She might have whined a little bit but Emma apparently didn't notice. "You can make an appointment with me."

"I don't want to have to make a fucking appointment to talk to my girlfriend about being stingy with town budgets!" Emma plops ungraciously down onto the bed, yanking the blankets up to her chest and away from Regina.

It wasn't that she'd been accused of being stingy (because if only Emma had to take a look at all the budgets she had to balance she would have known Regina was being unfairly gracious to the Sheriff's office) and it wasn't that Emma had continued talking because honestly, the Sheriff's whining and complaining was like a low white noise at this point.

It was because the blanket had been ripped away from her, dousing her with absolute iciness.

She turned over once more. "That's just it, Miss Swan. When I'm working, I'm not your girlfriend. I'm your boss and you will make an appointment with me to voice your concerns professionally." She jabbed her finger so hard into the Sheriff's chest, it summoned a yelp from the other woman. She ignored it and arched her brow, threateningly. "Do I make myself clear?"

Emma clenched her jaw, clearly holding herself back from lashing out. At this point Regina wanted her to. She wanted to continue this argument the idiot blonde had started.

She matched her girlfriend's glare with one of her own.

When Emma's eyes darkened considerably, Regina watched as the fury was doused out and replaced with something much deeper than fury. Arousal. Arousal accompanied by absolute anger and suddenly she was lying on her back looking up at blonde tresses falling around her like a curtain. Emma's lips assaulted her harshly, her teeth scraping against Regina's lips and chin and neck as she pulled the brunette's gown up.

A lot of their arguments ended this way. Whether it was Emma doing the assualting or Regina herself. It should have been worrisome that they couldn't finish an argument and come to an agreement, instead taking their anger out on the other woman's body in a rather abusive way that left marks for the following days after.

It should have been startling or something to think about but even when she was the one controlling the situation or the one being controlled, Regina felt nothing but thrill and arousal coursing through her veins so instead she found herself encouraging Emma by pulling her hair and pushing her away, infusing the blonde with determination.

Reality hits Regina when she settles herself on the couch only to feel movement and something hard like a leg or a knee beneath her. She yelps in surprise and stands quickly. "Henry!" She admonishes.

The little boy looks annoyed for reasons more than nearly being squashed by his mother. "Sorry." He says, sitting up on the couch.

His cow-licked hair and heavy eyes softens Regina's tone. "What are you doing down here?"

"Couldn't sleep." It's not exactly a lie. He couldn't sleep.

Regina sits next to him. "Why couldn't you sleep, sweetheart?"

Henry pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, worrying it as he refuses to give his mother eye-contact. He considers telling her that she and Emma weren't as quiet as they thought they were last night. He also considers how awkward it would be afterwards. They'd probably never have sex while he was home again. Which definitely isn't something he would object to. In fact, he would encourage them to never have sex with him in the house. He'd even volunteer to stay the night at Nick's house just so they could get it on.

But he remembers his friend Anthony telling him about the arguments his parents had before they got a divorce and his dad always brought up that they hadn't had sex in months. At the time, Henry had no idea what sex really was other than two adults showing love for one another, so he hadn't been as grossed out then.

But now, thinking that the key to staying together when you're in an adult relationship is sex, and he's definitely seen what that looks like on the internet, he's not so sure he wants to "cock-block" his mothers as Nick had put it the other day when Henry came to school with sleep-laden eyes.

"Cockblock your moms." His friend had suggested. "If they don't have sex then they won't keep you up."

Henry's not entirely sure where or when Nick had encountered that phrase to start using it but he only responded by shrugging his head and pushing his dollar into the vending machine then selecting a caffeine filled drink since coffee was out of the question.

Henry wet his lips as his mother's deep brown eyes stares at him imploringly. It would be so easy to tell her that she makes a lot of noise with Emma. She says a lot of bad words that he's never heard her say and she calls Emma an idiot a lot more than she usually does.

Instead he shakes his heads of his thoughts and pulls a forged smile to his face. "My bed was really uncomfortable. I think I need a new one."

His mother's suspicion doesn't falter, instead she studies him. Her eyes taking in his sleepiness, his agitation, his refusal to look her in the eye for more than a second without blushing then looking away.

She doesn't believe him, clearly, but she lets it go. "How about we go buy you a new bed? We can drive to Kent this weekend. Just you and me."

Henry remembers his dream then. When it used to be just him and his mom in the house. He loves Emma but she's so loud and impatient in the mornings and she doesn't clean up after herself, instead she adds it to his chores. He loves that both of his mothers are together and he wouldn't have it any other way but he misses when Emma used to sneak out before he woke up and only come over for dinner and to intrude on their family night.

He feels guilty for feeling that way but then he remembers what he heard last night and he decides the guilt he can handle, the crude language and really weird and gross noises his mothers make he cannot.

* * *

"I think something's wrong with Henry." Regina's removing her heels and changing into a pair of sensible but still fashionable flats. She's leaning on her girlfriend to balance herself as she does so. "Has he been odd with you lately?"

Emma considers this, looking heavenward as if it'll help her focus. And maybe it will because she can see down Regina's shirt and she can definitely see the purple hickey staining her girlfriend's skin from last night. Now's not the time to feel insanely turned on but really freaking guilty about that.

"To tell you the truth, kid hasn't really talked to me in a few days." Emma realizes, feeling crappy for a whole different reason now.

Regina eases up her hold on Emma as she slips the second shoe on then stands straight. She bends down to retrieve the heels. "Do you think it's a puberty thing or we've done something?"

The fact that Regina's asking her instead of going to one of the dozens of books she has on parenting alerts Emma and she looks at her girlfriend. "I don't know." She says, honestly. "But maybe we can talk to him? You and me?" It's unspoken that they're raising Henry together. They haven't talked too much about marriage yet. Emma still hasn't officially moved in but a lot of her clothes are currently taking residence inside Regina's dresser. But they're raising him together.

Henry still calls her Emma and one time when he was really tired he called her "Ma" but explained that was because his voice had cracked on the "Em" part of her name. Emma and Regina both knew that was a load of bullshit but allowed him to believe they'd bought it.

Regina places her heels in the backseat of her Mercedes and grabs her purse. She looks at Emma, who seems to be begging her for something she doesn't quite understand, then nods. "I don't see why we shouldn't handle this one together."

A blindingly infectious grin breaks out across Emma's face then spreads to Regina's.

_Together._

* * *

He's not hungry but he fears if he leaves his mothers alone they'll probably end up doing it again. He's given a lot of consideration to the whole cock-blocking suggestion and while he's not going to cling to his mom's hip or anything, he'll try to spend a little extra time with them both.

He's scraping his fork against his plate, apparently unaware of Emma wincing and cringing every time he does it. He does feel the familiar itching he gets whenever his mom is staring at him so he raises his eyes slowly to meet hers.

"Henry," she says with fondness but it still sounds like he's about to chewed out for something. "Emma and I would like to speak with you."

He glances to Emma to confirm and she looks more guilty than anything.

"Okay." He drops his fork to his plate. "What about?"

"Well…I-we've noticed that you've been distant lately. Have we-are you okay? Has something happened at school or at Nick's?" It's no secret that Michael Tillman doesn't like Regina and sometimes he's polite about it when he drops Henry off after a sleepover but other times he's downright nasty towards her in front of their children.

Henry braces himself by gripping his chair beneath him firmly. Deciding the best course of action is to just tell them, like Archie had suggested earlier. "No...nothing happened _at school._"

Regina looks to Emma to continue but the blonde purposely keeps her head down. _Useless_, she thinks. "Okay. Has something happened at Nick's?"

"Nope. Not at Nick's house." _But you're getting warmer. _

Regina thinks for a moment. As far as she's aware, she's been a decent mother. She's been working a little more lately but she makes up for it by asking Henry to help with dinner and he seems to thoroughly enjoy the time they spend together. She even allows for him to go to the park by himself when she nor Emma can entertain him after school. So what could she have possibly done?

"Have I done something?" her voice is surprisingly quiet, insecurity and fear of failing her son taking the volume away from her voice.

Henry doesn't say anything.

Regina glances to Emma, who seems to be watching the interaction carefully.

"What have I done?" the brunette asks.

Henry doesn't say anything.

"Henry?"

He looks to Emma as an answer.

"Emma? I've...are you upset that we're together?"

He shakes his head.

"What about Emma then?"

Henry sighs, trying to obtain courage and patience but losing them both rapidly. "You...you did Emma." He didn't mean to phrase it that way but it's damn near comical the way Emma spits her food across the table and the absolute horror in his mother's bulged eyes. "I mean you two have been really loud lately. When you...you know." He gestures between the two of them, desperately hoping they understand the implications.

Emma's coughing like she might be dying but Regina's frozen with horror and Henry's a little too embarrassed himself to actually do anything about it.

The blonde reaches for her drink, gulps it down, then coughs some more.

Henry looks up from his lap to meet his mother's gaze again and he's surprised by the redness coloring her cheeks.

Her mouth opens and closes like a fish gasping for air but nothing comes out.

"You _heard_ that?!" Emma screeches after she finally gathers her bearings.

Henry nods solemnly.

"When?! How much?!"

"Whenever you guys have an argument at night and usually all of it."

Emma gags and all the color drains from Regina's face.

"I didn't want to say anything! Anthony's parents got a divorce because they weren't having sex! I didn't want you to break up because of me but it's so gross, Mom! You guys do it at really weird times and, and, and..." His voice dies down and he feels so utterly helpless. Emma's looking at him like he's sprouted another head and his mother can't even meet his eyes.

It's painfully quiet and awkward for five minutes. Henry's just about to get up and leave but soft words stop him.

"I'm sorry." The voice is so quiet and guilt-ridden and uncharacteristically Regina that Emma herself glues her eyes to the woman's lips to see if the words came from her. "I...I'm so very sorry Henry. I can imagine hearing any of that would be very uncomfortable for you." She still doesn't meet his eyes, instead focuses on her fingers toying with the fabric of the tablecloth.

"I will see to it that you never have to hear that again."

Emma arches a brow, hoping this doesn't mean the end of her sex life because as much as she loves the kid and feels shitty about him hearing them, she doesn't exactly want to stop having sex.

Henry's quiet for a moment. "Thank you."

It's still painfully awkward between them all.

"May I be ex-"

"Yes."

Henry scatters away without taking his plate to the kitchen. Regina listens as runs to the foyer then up the stairs then shuts his door. She can hear him pacing the floor of his bedroom above the dining room.

"That was…" Emma starts.

Regina shoots her a warning look, daring her to complete that thought.

The blonde drops her gaze shamefully to her lap. "Sorry."

"You were absolutely no help, Miss Swan. What happened to us handling this _together_?"

The use of the old title tinges Emma's cheeks with shame, anger, and annoyance. "It's just...when he looked at me it was like he didn't even want me to be here."

"Because he's traumatized with all the things you've done to his mother behind closed doors!"

To that, Emma doesn't have a response. Not that it would matter because Regina's already standing and collecting their plates, leaving Emma behind to think about everything.

* * *

Three days have passed and Emma's slept in her own bed back at her apartment with Mary Margaret. Her bed's too hard and itchy and her sheets smell more like her than Regina so it's been three miserably sleepless nights. By the fourth day, she's prepared to beg Henry and Regina to let her sleep on the floor at least.

She's dragging herself out of her bed and down the stairs for coffee. Her movements, much like Henry's when he's tired, are zombie-like and constricted. Emma trips over her own pair of shoes she'd discarded except Mary Margaret has refused to pick up after her so they're still there.

The apartment smells like burnt toast and stale coffee and David's standing in the kitchen in a pair of boxers and nothing else.

She startles him when she sits down at the island bar.

"Emma! Hey!" He looks surprised but not as overjoyed as he sounds at seeing her. "I thought you would be at Regina's." He stares at pensively, taking in her tired and annoyed eyes and chalking it up to things aren't going so well at the Mayoral mansion for her.

"Yeah. Well." She doesn't give an actual response, instead she cracks her neck and walks around the island to retrieve a cup.

David's tiptoed back into Mary Margaret's bedroom and Emma just stares around the kitchen not remembering where anything is or if she's allowed to touch it. Despite it technically being her apartment too, she feels completely out of place. There are more things that belong to David than her.

Like the flatscreen in the living room. Or the bike hanging by the door. Or the red raincoat- actually that one is hers. She got Henry and Regina one to match. Henry's one is blue along with his blue rainboots and Regina's ensemble is black. Just black. At the time she'd jokingly compared the ensemble to her girlfriend's heart which earned her a smack upside the head and a week without sex.

Emma sighs as pours her coffee. She hadn't realized how much Regina's house had become her home. In fact, she used to threaten she would go back to her apartment whenever she got into an argument with her girlfriend.

Standing in the apartment she calls home, she realizes that this is where she feels homesick.

The knock on the door startles her and part of her wants to make David or Mary Margaret get it because it's her day off and she just wants to laze around all day without having to interact with anyone.

Emma puts down the coffee pot and her mug but takes her sweet time getting to the door. She hopes if she takes too long whoever it is will go away, but unfortunately for her their visitor is just as stubborn as she is.

Emma's prepared to give whoever it is a piece of her mind, and not too kindly too, as she swings the door open but there stands Henry. Emma looks over her shoulder the clock on the stove, that reads in green letters 7:12 AM.

"What the heck are you doing here, Henry?" she ushers him in, taking note of the hair mopped to his forehead and the blue raincoat clinging to him. He needs a bigger size, she reminds herself. Something she'll pass along to Regina eventually. Maybe tomorrow since they have a meeting about increasing the Sheriff Department's budget.

"Mom's really sad." Henry says as she starts removing his boots. "And she said something to me last night. She said you said that I looked at you like I didn't want you around the other night?"

Shame colors Emma's cheeks red and she shoves her hands into her pajama pockets. "That wasn't exactly something I wanted you to hear, kid."

"But I do want you around, Emma." Henry's standing in front of her looking up at her and somehow it's Emma that feels small. "You're my best friend and your Mom's best friend too. You make us really happy and we wouldn't be a family without you."

"Then why do you always seem so mad at me?"

"Because you don't know how to clean up after yourself. And you fall asleep on the couch a lot and you snore. And you play my videogames without asking me but never put the discs back in the right case." He uses his fingers to count off her shortcomings and Emma's never been more reminded of Regina than now.

"You drink from the carton, you mix your clothes in with mine, you eat my cereal, you-"

"Alright kid I'm starting to think you just came over to tell me how crappy I am."

Henry frowns, looking down at this fingers. He drops his hands to his sides and sighs. "What I'm trying to say Emma is that all of my life it's just been me and Mom. I've always made her happy and so it's kind of weird that someone else gets to do it. We've never had anyone live with us before so I'm not used to having to share not only my mom but my house with someone else."

Emma's heart swells. If only she could record this conversation and replay it later for Regina the next time the woman questions whether or not if Henry even likes her anymore. Sure they've had their rough patches. Regina nearly suffocated the kid with love but he loves her. And he likes her.

She drops to her knees to level with the kid. "You're kinda used to it just being you two that you don't really know how to share, do ya kid?"

Henry looks embarrassed and annoyed that she's right but nods anyway.

"Listen kid, your mom loves you more than anyone in the world." He begins to protest but she stops him. "Even me! She loves you more than she'll ever be able to love me and that's how it should be. I love you more than I'll ever be able to love her. We're both okay with that. Yeah, you kinda have to share me with your mom but that's okay because we're a family now. That means we all have to share each other. And that's good because instead of having to go to my place on the weekends, I'm at yours now and the time we used to spend together while your mom was all alone at home, we spend with her. That's been fun right?"

He nods.

"And that's what family is. Never having to be alone. Now you'll never feel alone again and I'll never feel alone again and your mom will never feel alone again. I know I'm kind of a slob but you can always talk to me about it. When you don't talk about what's bothering you, it begins to build up until you get really really mad. You don't want to get really really mad at me or your mom do you?"

He shakes his head. "I really love you guys."

"We know so that's why we want you to talk to us. We'll always listen and we'll always try to accommodate when we're doing something that upsets you. If we're being careless, tell us. If you don't want me to eat your cereal, tell me. If you want me to spend some nights at home, tell me."

Wrinkles surface between Henry's eyebrows. "I want you to spend every night at home, Emma."

She looks heartbroken. "Y-you do?"

"Yeah. It's not home without you. Mom's not the only one that misses you."

His words confuse her at first but then she understands and she doesn't think she's ever loved Henry more. She kisses his forehead eagerly. "I love you, kid."

His nose wrinkles in disgust at the affection. "Yeah, yeah. Now can you come home?"

"I can't yet."

"How come?"

"Your mom hasn't asked me back yet."

"Did she kick you out?"

Emma replays that night in her head. No, Regina hadn't kicked her out. She'd just retreated to the kitchen quietly and did the dishes. It was Emma that slipped out of the house without a word. So she shakes her head.

"But...it's my house too, right?"

"Of course, kid." Emma says, not entirely sure what that has to do with anything.

"Then if it's my house too I get to invite you back, don't I?"

"Sorry kiddo but that's part of the whole family thing. If it's everyone's house, everyone has to be involved in that decision."

"You want to come back, right?"

God, does she. She's never wanted anything more except for when she'd wanted to kiss Regina for the first time. And like back then, this feeling is more like an urge. But unlike back then, she doesn't want to do something Regina's not ready for. She'd kissed her and received a slap to the face and was ignored for a month before Regina finally confronted her and explained that just because Emma wanted to kiss her, didn't mean she wasn entitled to.

"Come on, Emma. I promise. Mom's been really sad and she really misses you. Yesterday I saw her smelling your pillow." His eyes bulge fearfully. "Don't tell her I said that!"

The blonde chuckles and tousles the kid's hair. "Okay kid."

"You'll come."

"Only to drop you off."

Henry smirks. "Isn't that what you said when you drove me home from Boston?"

* * *

The house is eerily quiet, Emma thinks, as she and Henry quietly ascend up the stairs. Henry's discarded his rainboots and coat by the door, now he's in a pair of wet pajamas she reminds him to change out of. The house isn't usually this...inactive on a Saturday morning.

Especially if Regina and Emma both have the day off. In the past several weeks, whenever all three family members have the day off, they'd spend the morning eating breakfast and watch cartoons until Henry was ready to branch out and do something on his own. Leaving behind Emma and Regina to curl up on the couch and talk about anything and everything.

Those conversations weren't always particularly deep. Sometimes they discussed things as desultory as the weather but it had nothing to do with the words they were saying but how they were said. Regina, finally with her guard down, would look at Emma as if she were the most fascinating thing on Earth. She'd link their fingers together and ask Emma her opinion on anything like it mattered. Because it did. Emma mattered to her and that's something that was blatantly obvious in those moments.

Henry closes his bedroom door behind him, leaving Emma in front of what she has considered to be her bedroom door for the last three months. She doesn't know if Regina's awake or if she should knock or what. Part of her wants to go back to Mary Margaret's apartment, the other part of her is telling her that apartment isn't her home anymore.

Wetting her lips nervously, Emma pushes the door open slightly. When there's no immediate reaction, she pushes it open a little more.

She finds the sight before her a little tranquilizing. Regina's asleep on the chaise, a pillow (Emma's pillow) entombed in her arms, with her back to the bed and the light from the cloudy Saturday morning lighting up her face.

Emma slips into the room and softly closes the door behind her. She hears the soft snick of the lock then tiptoes across the room to her girlfriend. Regina stirs when Emma takes the pillow away.

Emma kneels next to the chaise. "Regina." She strokes the delicate features she's come to associate with home and comfort and serenity. One wouldn't usually think of peace if they look at Regina but Emma does. When she looks into those dark brown eyes, she sees nothing but love and that conciliates her in ways no other human being on this planet ever could.

"Regina," she tries again. This time she's met with those very same eyes she's found herself longing for the last few days.

The woman blinks slowly, drinking in the sight of Emma. "I'm sorry." The words are groggy but sincere.

"For what?"

"Not asking you to come back."

"It's okay." She kisses Regina's forehead. "Henry needed time and I think we did too. We kind of avalanched into domesticity."

"We did, didn't we?"

Emma nods. "We talked, Henry and I. We told me why he was really so upset with me. We're okay now, him and me. But...what about you and me?"

Regina looks purposely thoughtful for a moment, enjoying the dreadful look on Emma's face, then nods. "I think we're okay."

That ever so infectious smile splits Emma's face and spreads to Regina's and even further to her heart and she's assaulted with kisses all over her face.

_Together. _

* * *

**A/N: **Remember if you liked it, I don't mind receiving prompts. You can always PM here or message me directly on Tumblr ( .com) and I'll try to write it if I feel I can do it some justice.


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